Wave-motor.



4mama Feb. 4, 1902.

W. S. BRYANT.

WAVE M 0TOR (Applcatop led July 23, 1900.)

THE NQRRIS PETERS C0. PHOTO-LKML. WASHINGTON. D. C.

(No Model.)

Nite *rares A TENT FFICE.

VILLAM S. BRYANT, OF COHASSET, MASSACHUSET"$.

WAVE-MOTOR.

SPECIFCATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 692,420, dated February4, 1902.

Application filed July 23, V1900.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

' Be it known that LWILLIAM S. BRYANT, of Oohasset, in the county ofNorfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulWave-Motor, of which the following is a speciiication, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a centralvertical section of a wave-motor, illustrating one forni of myinvention. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is asection on line 3 3 of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a detail described below.

My invention is a float provided with a long tube, a pressure-reservoirat the upper end of the tube, and valves, all so organized that therising and falling of the float caused by waves shall force water andair into the pressure-reservoir, and thereby compress air in thatreservoir and supply a ow of water and air under pressure from thereservoir.

In the drawings, A is the float, (shown as a buoy,) and B the tube, openat its lower end and connected at its upper end to the reser-r voir D.Tube B carries valves Z), through which water flows into tube B whenfloat A is lifted by a Wave; but on the fall of fioat A the water whichhas flowed into tube B through valves Z) cannot escape except by passingdownward and out at the lower end of tube B or else' by passing upwardthrough valve d into reservoir D. The column of Water inside the tube Bis in practice almost stationary during the rising and .falling of thebuoy, since the tube dips into the still water below. The top positionof that column thereby forms a water-piston workin g in a cylinder,which is tube B. This piston acts to draw in a supply of water and airthrough the valves b and b' and force the same under pressure into thereceiver, although the tube B is open at the bottom all the time, forthe reason that, the tube being very long, the inertia of the watertherein is so great that it does not have time to move appreciablyduring the movements of the buoy. It is therefore plain that if the tubeB were made long enough the whole Weight of the buoy might be madeeffective to compress the air into the reservoir D; but whether this bethe true theory or not it is a fact that water and Serial No. 24,475.(No model.)

air from tube B rush up through valve d into reservoir D, the air beingcompressed above the water in that reservoir.

The water from reservoir D is forced by the compressed air above it toflow through pipefto apparatus F for 'utilizing water under pressure.

I have shown the apparatus F as an aircompressor supplying air-reservoirG, piped to interior of buoy A, the energy thus in G and A beingutilized as described in my Patent No. 666,259, dated January 22, 1901,as indicated in the extreme upper end of Fig. l; but it will be obvious,of course, that my present invention is not in any Way restricted as tothe form of apparatus for utilizing the outflow of Water mixed withcompressed air from reservoir D.

The valves b are air-inlet valves for supplying enough air to reservoirD to take the place of the compressed air which escapes with theoutflowing water, for in practical 0peration the water-level risesrapidlyin reservoir D until the air compressed in reservoir D above theWater-level attains a pressure sufficient to force Water, mixed, ofcourse,with some compressed air, through pipefand valve f into cylinderf2of apparat-us F. When cylinder]c2 is nearly filled with Water, floatfSis lifted, opening valve f4 and shifting plunger f5 by reason of waterflowing through valvej"4 into the cylinder, in which one end of plungerf5 acts as a piston, which shifts valve f', shutting od cylinderf2frompipe fand open- .ing cylinder f2 to exhaust-pipe f6, and also openingcylinder f7 to pipe f, when water flows through pipe f and valve fintocylin'- der f7, operating float f8 to open valve fu and shift plunger f5back to its first position,when the operation is repeated, thus forcingair Apast check-valve ff or flo into reservoir G.

The water will gradually accumulate in reservoir G until it lifts afloat in that reservoir, and thereby opens a small valve controlledby'that float, when it will escape, and the ioat will fall and the valvewill close, all in a well-known manner; but as air is continuouslyforced into reservoir D with water from tube B the Water-level inreservoir D must eventually fall to near the mouth of pipef,

IDO

and in that condition the com pressed air above the Water-level willfirst force water up through pipe f, and thereby bring the water on a.level with or slightly below the mouth of pipe j', and compressed airwill rush up through pipe finto one of the cylinders]02 or f7; but thenthe compressed air will, il its pressure be sufficient, lift check-valvefg or flo and flow into reservoir G; but if the pressure ofthecompressed Ltir at any time in either cylinder f2 or j"7 be less thanthe pressure iu G the Water-level will rise in D, and the air-pressurein D will increase until more Water is forced up through pipe j" oruntil the air-pressure in the cylinder]02 or f7 be otherwise madegreater tha-n the pressure in G.

VVhztt I claim as my invention is In combination atube open at its lowerend, and provided with water-inlet valves; a reservoir Connected withthe upper end of the tube; 2L valve opening out of the tube and into thereservoir; a float carrying the tube with its open lower'end Well belowthe surface of the water which sustains the oat; and a pipe leading fromthe reservoir and serving as an outow for the water forced into thereservoir by the motion of the float caused by waves.

WILLIAM S. BRYANT.

Witnesses: p

J. E. MAYNADIER, ARTHUR F. RANDALL.

